Blood found in McCanns' hire car 'DID come from Madeleine'

Traces of blood found in Gerry and Kate McCanns' hire car and holiday flat DID belong to Madeleine, it has been claimed.

It reflects detectives' belief that she is dead and her parents disposed of her body.

Tests carried out at a UK laboratory confirmed beyond doubt that the blood was that of the toddler, a Portuguese newspaper reported.

The McCanns have always insisted there were innocent explanations for the traces found behind the sofa at the Ocean club apartment in Praia da Luz and in the boot of the Renault Scenic they hired there 25 days after Madeleine vanished on May 3.

They have had independent DNA tests on the car which they say revealed no trace of Madeleine and are understood to be distressed by the reports which they categorically deny.

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They claim that the DNA could be linked to Madeleine's siblings, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

But the respected Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported yesterday: "The definitive result of the tests leave no doubts for the Policia Judiciaria.

"The blood found in the McCanns' car is that of Madeleine as well as those samples detected in the flat."

Detectives in Portugal asked British scientists to carry out new tests after initial ones by the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham proved inconclusive.

It is understood that they are using a new technique called low copy number analysis, which allows them to find a genetic fingerprint from a tiny sample.

The samples from the flat and the hire car were said to be damaged and of low quality, but police sources now claim the latest results are definitive.

Portuguese detectives plan to travel to Britain in the coming weeks to reinterview the McCanns and the friends they were dining with at a tapas restaurant on the night Madeleine vanished.

Yesterday Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner were named as the two friends reported last year to have told police they wanted to change their account of that evening.

Ms Tanner, 37, from Exeter, says she saw a mystery man carrying a child away from the flat at 9.15pm on the night Madeleine vanished.

Police were said to believe Dr O'Brien, 36, wanted to change his statement to claim he also saw the man, newspaper 24 Horas reported.

But staff at the restaurant say Ms Tanner was at the table througout the meal and only left after Kate came running in shouting, "They've taken her", the newspaper reported.

Dr O'Brien and Ms Tanner have denied contacting police to change their stories and sources close to the McCanns support that posistion.

Portuguese police believe Madeleine died in an accident and that Kate and Gerry conspired with their friends to dispose of the body.

Police sources claim the couple could be charged with manslaughter as well as hiding a body and wasting police time.

Kate and Gerry deny involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

They have had independent DNA tests on the car which they say revealed no trace of Madeleine.

Last night, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "These reports are very distressing for Kate and Gerry - they are depressed that again wild rumour and speculation is being presented as fact.

"We wish Portuguese police would just get on with their investigation, come over to England and carry out the interviews with Kate and Gerry and their friends. All those interviews will prove, yet again, that Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide.

"As for the supposed DNA testing, we cannot comment on yet more unsubstantiated rampant speculation in the Portuguese press.

"It is ridiculous to suggest that Madeleine's blood was in the their car because she was never in it.

"It was hired more than 20 days after she went missing, which means it was impossible for her to have ever been in it.

"Kate and Gerry were in no way involved in her death. Nor were they involved in disposing of her body.

"To suggest otherwise is ridiculous. This report is flying in the face of all other articles which reported that the DNA and forensic tests were inconclusive.

"If there had been anything found, I would have thought there would have been more urgent activity on behalf of the Portuguese police than there has been.

"We have been waiting months now for them to come to England to carry out their re-interviewing.

"Anything the police feel may give them cause for concern can be wholly and innocently explained.

"But until we actually see the official FSS report, we have no idea what it contains, and I suggest the Portuguese press don't either."